Canberrans have been urged to prepare for the threat of bushfires, as firefighters warn conditions could deteriorate as summer heats up.
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The Rural Fire Service used the first day of summer on Sunday to further prepare the ACT for the risk of bushfire.
Ten vehicles and 35 RFS officers helped to burn off fuel loads along Yamba Drive in Farrer throughout the day, causing smoke to drift through parts of Canberra's south.
The hazard reduction burn was one of many conducted by authorities in preparation for the current bushfire season.
RFS chief officer Andrew Stark said the conditions for this year's summer would be dry and hot, much like last year.
''Over the last couple of weeks we've had a bit of rain, which has greened things up a little bit in late spring, but the bureau has forecast a drier and hotter summer,'' Mr Stark said.
''So we expect things will deteriorate for fire risk particularly as we move through Christmas and into January and on,'' he said. The RFS is urging people to prepare their families and property as the weather heats up.
Mr Stark said authorities were well placed in the ''cycle that never ends'' of fuel management.
But he urged Canberrans to download the Emergency Services Agency's bushfire survival plan template to make sure they were ready for any threat.
''That goes through a range of activities that people can do, in terms of getting leaves out of gutters, and tidying up vegetation around their houses and properties,'' Mr Stark said.
''But also those practical steps about where they'd actually go or what they'd do if their property or family were threatened by fire.
''Once the fire has started it's all too late to be making those decisions.''
He said the recent fires in the Blue Mountains and on the NSW coast should serve as a reminder to people of the dangers bushfires posed.
''It's an inevitable part of south-east Australia,'' he said.
''Big fires, if the weather deteriorates beyond the conditions that firefighters can extinguish fires, those fires can threaten lives and property very quickly.
''The community needs to play their role and understand that it's a very real risk.''
Mr Stark said authorities prepared for the worst-case scenario every year, and hoped for the best conditions possible.
He said the larger hazard reduction burns had been conducted in Namadgi earlier this year. Those large burns were done in late summer, autumn, or early winter for safety and environmental reasons.
